Romance

Gus Van Sant is a hard filmmaker to categorize. He’s gone through phases where he’s made darling indie classics, Oscar Bait, remakes, High School drama, and quiet meditations. His latest, Restless, isn’t another radical departure for the proud Portlander, but it does help to clarify what commonalities unite his filmography. All his films, and this is especially true of Restless, are personal but muted stories told with a real cinematic eye for the quietly powerful.

With a title that consists of three nouns that sound like they could have come out of any Hallmark card, Crazy, Stupid, Love seems like a pandering Romcom meant for middle-aged mothers who just want to go to the movies and watch some people fall in love. You know, just like it happened in all their other favorite movies.

It turns out that Crazy, Stupid, Love, despite flirting with taking a darker view on Love and Relationships, isn’t that far off from the Romcom formula. But unlike its genre brethren, Crazy, Stupid, Love actually earns its sappy moments, and for once this 23-year-old dude can totally see himself enjoying a movie with a bunch of middle-aged moms. [click to continue…]